October In The Zambezi Valley Poem by Phillip Nine Mafunga

No matter how long you have been here it is always a scary thought
A thought that lingers in you irritatingly like a moth
For many months on end wait we for it with great dread
The heaven's eye glares into the valley to turn it into a furnace
At noonday nothing moves for not even a shade would give enough cover
Even when it takes a long blink the valley remains an open pit of heat

Strangely in the same oven, life springs out flowery and green
The four footed and the winged wait for the darkening of the heaven's face
The puddles that where are but baked dry surfaces
To survive is a lottery chance nearly
Skeletons scatter across the valley floor having been cleaned by the scavengers
But still we love it here, we have adapted

Phillip Nine Mafunga
15 October 2019